Party in the Countryside

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Hey y'all

Well I'm just counting down until I leave for Florida - yay! 1 more sleep to go! Then it will be a week in the sunshine (32C it has been lately), sipping cocktails by the pool, riding on the jet ski, swimming, shopping and just having fun!

The past couple of weeks have been fairly busy. Went down to Kent (South London) for Mark's sister's birthday (that's Claire's boyfriend). They have a big country house that use to be an old Mill for Hever Castle that they totally refurbished - it even has a pool, a pond and a big field next to it - basically what us Kiwi's call a paddock, but I dare not say that in front of them all!

Claire and I caught the train down, and we stocked up on supplied on our arrival. It was an absolute scorcher of a day, something we have all been missing here in London, so it was nice to be in the sunshine. The drive out was wonderful, it was like being back home - all the greenery, cows and sheep! The country lanes are very, very narrow and are surrounded either side by tall hedges, so it can be very scary driving through the windy parts! So as soon as we arrived we stripped off into singlets and shorts, I cracked open the beers and sat out on the sunlounger to soak up some rays. I must admit I did get pretty burnt, but the sun over here is completely different to the sun at home. I was really red, but it didn't hurt a bit, and now I've gone brown, whereas at home I would have been burnt to a crisp, gone red and then peeled and then gone back to pasty white!!

It was an interesting crowd that turned up, but I definitely felt a bit out of my depth. There was only 20 or so of us, but the girls were very glamorous with their hair nicely done, dresses, manicures, pedicures, designer sunglasses.......and here was Claire and I in shorts, singlets and jandals...hehehehe

We had a BBQ, and there was even a bouncy castle and a mechanical bull! I managed to take out the title for the longest ride for a girl! Yeehaaah! The party went on until the early hours of the morning and at one stage there was mist rolling in along the fields - was rather eerie!! I met some very cool dudes, Kit and Rob, who remind me alot of some of my mates back home, so was a blast to have some fun with them - basically just talk rubbish all night! I think in the end I managed to crawl into bed at around 4.30am, but it was definitely light and the birds were chirping!

I can't believe it's 3 months now since I departed NZ! Time has definitely flown by. I still have very surreal moments when I'm walking to work in the morning and I have to pinch myself that I'm actually in London! I've already gotten use to being packed like a sardine in a tin can on the tube, the black boogas up ya nose, getting harrassed on the street, the hot days and the rain, the orange sun burning through the smog in the evening (they dont' have clear blue skies and beautiful sunsets here in the city), and the list goes on. It's starting to get very hot here now, and it's very uncomfortable to travel on the tube when it's like this, and it's only going to get worse - yuck! Not only because of the heat, but because you have to stand so close to everyone and if your not careful you will end up with your face in someone's stinky armpit! EEEwwwww!!!!

Well this is me signing out for the next week or so - Sarasota, Florida here I come!!!

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Photos

Me on the mechnical bull
Can I get a YEEEEHHHHAAAAAAAA

It's not as easy as it looks!!
My inner thighs hurt for days - now I know why cowboys walk funny!!

Matt and Claire
Matt and Claire - hope Mark doesn't get jealous :-p

DA crazy boys
Tim, Rob, Kit - Rob and Kit remind me of my fellas back home....

Boys in the hood
Kit and I trying to do our best gangster impressions....didn't really pay off though - please note we had been drinking for a verrrryyy long time

Comments

[anonymous]

yer hanging with some dodgy geezers Rach... lol. I'm in Amsterdam next Friday, then Oxford about a week later "Academic Business" haha, all on the pigs back - um, I mean Weltec, thank you very much Linda I appreciate it and all that, shame I don't get a daily beer allowance. Manchester after Oxford, then Edinburgh, whirlwind tour! Shame I can't get to London to let you shout me a pint or 10. Love the shot of you on the mechanical bull. I always thought you'd be good at that. Looks like you are having a good time, and you're getting right into the British spirit... luv ya s x

[Nina]

Cool place/time! Know the feeling of being hot and sweaty on the tube - Sydney trains were/are like that; once train was running late, everyone quashed in and had this guy with his hands up at an angle that if he touched me he would've got it! Have a great time in Florida - looking forward to hearing all the news (not about the sun please - it's freezing over here!!). Love, N